Somatic and Emotional Well-Being Among Turkish Immigrants in Belgium: Acculturation or Culture?

Abstract

The present studies investigate differences in well-being between Turkish immigrants, Belgian majority members, and Turkish majority members. Furthermore, the relationships between two acculturation dimensions (adaptation and maintenance) and well-being is investigated within the immigrant group. In a first study, somatic well-being is studied in a sample of 519 Belgian majority members, 229 Turkish immigrants, and 232 Turkish majority members. Turkish immigrants reported the most somatic complaints, followed by Turkish majorities and Belgian majorities. No relationships with acculturation were found. In a second study, emotional well-being (sadness/anxiety, anger, and positive emotions) was investigated in 519 Belgians, 151 Turkish immigrants, and 200 Turkish majority members. No differences were found for sadness/anxiety. Turkish majority members report less anger than the other two groups. For positive emotions, Turkish majority members score the lowest, followed by the Turkish immigrant group and the Belgian majority members. In the immigrant group only adaptation was associated with more positive emotions. Both studies demonstrate that indices of well-being behave differently in cross-cultural comparative research.